Homily originally presented on Sunday, October 30, 2016
The Devil is a divider who will use almost any tactic to separate Christians from Christ. Every tactic except for one tactic ... he doesn’t come right out and say “deny Jesus” because he knows that anyone who loves Jesus would immediately reject that suggestion. So he tends to use more subtle means and more subtle words. But more on this later. Right now lets’ speak about something on many peoples minds ... the 2016 Presidential Election ... just 9 days away. And let’s do so from a Catholic perspective. Let’s talk about how the practice of our Catholic faith ... plays a part in the exercise of our civic duty of voting for government leaders.Let’s first acknowledge that there has never been a Presidential candidate ... perfectly aligned with the Catholic faith on every issue. But that does not mean that we’re automatically free to vote for any party we want ... because one party can be much further from Catholic Principles ... on the most important issues ... than the other party. And so, we the voters are faced with the project of discerning which Party and which policies are most in line with Catholic teaching ... and which ones are not.In discussing these things you may hear the phrase “prudential judgment”. This means that Catholics can legitimately disagree with each other and even with their Priest ... on the best way ... to address issues such as ... National Defense ... Racial Injustice ... Education ... the Economy ... Immigration ... Health Care ... and still remain in good standing with the Church. There are other matters however ... that touch on matters of “intrinsic evil”. another phrase that you may hear and certainly need to know. Intrinsic evil means that something is by nature evil ...
In other words ... in and of itself ... it is evil ... and because of that ... there are absolutely no surrounding intentions or circumstances ... that could ever make it good. Intrinsically evil actions are actions that can never ... at any time ... under any circumstances ... be committed ... promoted ... or enabled ... by a faithful Catholic.
In other words ... in and of itself ... it is evil ... and because of that ... there are absolutely no surrounding intentions or circumstances ... that could ever make it good. Intrinsically evil actions are actions that can never ... at any time ... under any circumstances ... be committed ... promoted ... or enabled ... by a faithful Catholic.
Now, for the moment, let’s set aside intrinsically evil actions ... and discuss some of the issues where Catholics can legitimately exercise prudential judgment. One such issue is Affirmative Action. This program aims to eliminate perceived disadvantages that minorities face ... when competing for example ... for admission into college. In our country, one Party favors Affirmative Action ... to bring justice and balance in our multi-racial society. The other Party holds that Affirmative Action penalizes High Achievers
by giving limited spots in the college classroom to less qualified students ... while denying more qualified students access to education. One party sees Affirmative Action as a matter of justice ... The other party sees it as a matter of injustice. But suppose ... that a Candidate for President ... promoted a policy ... that would make it legal ... for someone to kill a black person ... if that black person created a hardship ... for them getting the education they desired. How many of you would be comfortable voting for that Candidate? Thank God, I don’t see a single hand!Another issue that falls under the category of prudential judgement is Immigration. One major political party seeks to allow Immigration with very little restriction. The other party is concerned that un-restricted Immigration leads to ... among other things ... non-Citizens taking jobs that could be worked by Citizens. One Party favors open borders. The other Party favors law and order. Now suppose a Candidate for President ... promoted a policy that would make it legal ... for someone to kill a Hispanic person ... if the presence of that Hispanic person made it more difficult for them ... to pursue their career of choice. How many of you would be comfortable voting for that Candidate? Thank God, I don’t see a single hand! Thank God we don’t have a Candidate from either party who says that ... who says they condone such policies. No one in their right mind would say such a thing ... that it’s ok to kill Blacks or Hispanics or anyone else ... just to obtain personal educational or economic interests. No one would say that ...
by giving limited spots in the college classroom to less qualified students ... while denying more qualified students access to education. One party sees Affirmative Action as a matter of justice ... The other party sees it as a matter of injustice. But suppose ... that a Candidate for President ... promoted a policy ... that would make it legal ... for someone to kill a black person ... if that black person created a hardship ... for them getting the education they desired. How many of you would be comfortable voting for that Candidate? Thank God, I don’t see a single hand!Another issue that falls under the category of prudential judgement is Immigration. One major political party seeks to allow Immigration with very little restriction. The other party is concerned that un-restricted Immigration leads to ... among other things ... non-Citizens taking jobs that could be worked by Citizens. One Party favors open borders. The other Party favors law and order. Now suppose a Candidate for President ... promoted a policy that would make it legal ... for someone to kill a Hispanic person ... if the presence of that Hispanic person made it more difficult for them ... to pursue their career of choice. How many of you would be comfortable voting for that Candidate? Thank God, I don’t see a single hand! Thank God we don’t have a Candidate from either party who says that ... who says they condone such policies. No one in their right mind would say such a thing ... that it’s ok to kill Blacks or Hispanics or anyone else ... just to obtain personal educational or economic interests. No one would say that ...
But as we’ll see in a moment ... there is a Candidate ... in this Presidential Election ... who along with that Candidate’s Political Party ... does in fact sanction... the killing of Blacks and Hispanics in the situations just described under one particular condition ... that that Black person or Hispanic Person is still in his or her Mother’s womb. Now this Candidate and this Party certainly won’t say it this way ... Instead they use words like “Choice” or Reproductive Rights or Women’s Health or other sanitized statements in order to cover up what Abortion is ... and what Abortion does.
Now before we go any further I’d like to say this ... to anyone here who has chosen abortion ... God’s mercy is bigger than your sin. I’ve had the privilege of guiding the hands of post abortive women ... back into the hand of God ... the Merciful Father ... after they have admitted and repented of their Abortion ... in the Sacrament of Confession. It’s through this process that she re-claims her dignity as beloved daughter ... and is able to appropriate once again ... the never-ending love of the Father. I say to these women ... you don’t have to hide from God one moment longer. It must be exhausting for you to pretend that your pain is not real ... that your choice wasn’t devastating to you. God’s love ... in forgiving us ... of our most serious sins is even greater than His love ... in creating us! Your Father has been waiting for you a very long time ... Mothers ... it’s time to come home.So having shared that important word with grieving mothers ... let’s return to the subject of our duty as Catholics in the Public Square. When we consider that a woman can walk into a Planned Parenthood clinic ... and have her baby put to death ... because she doesn’t want to jeopardize her education or her career we must acknowledge that those shocking situations described previously of killing a Black or Hispanic person because they got in the way of one’s education or job opportunity .. are not only possible ... but very real ... and they are among the most common reasons for abortion in America!Abortion is not just a term to start a debate ... It is the procedure that stops a baby’s heartbeat. Many people want to treat Abortion as just one issue among many. But that requires a person to pretend to not know what an abortion is ... or what an abortion does. So let’s stop beating around the bush regarding the current Presidential race. Do you know which Party promotes Abortion ... and even intends to expand its availability at home and abroad? Do you know? Do you know that this Candidate and Party intend to make you and me pay for other people’s abortions with our tax dollars even though that has always been illegal in our country.
Are you aware that this Candidate and Party ... who until recently said that Abortion should be safe, legal and rare ... no longer bothers to say that it should be rare ... but rather... that it must be available any time, any place, for any reason ... up to the last moment ... that a fully-formed baby remains in their Mother’s womb. If you do not know which Candidate and Party I’m referring to ... then you should not even consider voting ... until you do. Ignorance in this area is unacceptable ... because ignorance in this area costs millions of babies their lives ... Black babies ... Hispanic babies ... and White babies ... and jeopardizes the souls of many Catholic voters.On the other hand ... if you do know which Party wants to promote and expand abortion ... and you still intend to enable them to continue their war on the unborn with your vote, then it is my duty as a Priest to tell you that your soul will be in grave danger ... especially if you continue to present yourself for Holy Communion ... with the full knowledge of what you are doing. Some people may say that a Priest has no business discussing politics in Church. But what does God say to His Priest who He has designated to be ... a Spiritual Father to the people entrusted to his care?Here’s what we heard today in our First Reading from the Book of Wisdom: “warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness.”There are plenty of Catholics, who quite rightly have criticized Bishops & Priests in recent years for not having spoken out more forcefully against the sexual abuse of children by Priests.
Why then do many of these same Catholics want to silence Bishops and Priests who speak out forcefully against ... killing innocent Children? Why is opposing the sexual abuse of children ... a matter of justice ... but opposing the murder of children ... a matter of politics? I urge you to get informed and study the insert in next week’s Bulletin. As we approach Election Day on November 8th ... I implore you to let your Catholic faith guide your vote.
Why then do many of these same Catholics want to silence Bishops and Priests who speak out forcefully against ... killing innocent Children? Why is opposing the sexual abuse of children ... a matter of justice ... but opposing the murder of children ... a matter of politics? I urge you to get informed and study the insert in next week’s Bulletin. As we approach Election Day on November 8th ... I implore you to let your Catholic faith guide your vote.
You know, while some innocent people have mistakenly been put to death in Capital Punishment ... in Abortion ... an innocent person is always put to death ... and never by mistake ... it is always chosen ... always intended. By choice. If a person is against Capital Punishment ... then they must be against Abortion ... because the intention of Abortion is to knowingly kill an innocent boy or girl ... each and every time.So, he certainly did not ... in any sense ... deserve an inrush of God’s grace ... and yet, Jesus calls him today saying, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.” Yes, the Lord accepted Zacchaeus, even though he was unacceptable! Who acted first? God ... He always does!
In our First Reading from Wisdom, we heard this description of God, “For you love all things that are ... and you loathe nothing that you have made.” God made us ... and So He loves us freely and fully ... He loves us just the way we are! And here’s something very special ... He loves us too much ... to leave us in sin. And that’s why God never ceases to call us out of darkness to embrace the light. His love for us is unconditional ... and it’s because of His love that he calls us to change from sinful ways ... so that we can one day experience His love in Heaven.The Wisdom writer says, “O Lord and lover of souls, You rebuke offenders little by little, warn them and remind them of the sins they are committing, that they may abandon their wickedness." This is exactly what Jesus did by inviting Himself into the house of Zacchaeus. His very presence was the invasion of grace ... that moved Zacchaeus to turn away from sinfulness. Zacchaeus says, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I shall repay it four times over.” Wow! Do you see how that works? The Tax Collector didn’t merit Jesus’ love with any display of moral excellence; rather, his display of moral excellence followed from ... Jesus’ unmerited love!The love of God always comes first! Any goodness that we do is as the result of responding to God’s goodness. And God’s goodness is ever available to us. God made us good. And God wants us to remain good... but unfortunately there are people and forces and situations that move us to do evil. Thank goodness we have a patient God, who loves us and comes looking to help us.
We hear this truth in our Gospel when Jesus says, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” What happened to Zacchaeus happens to every sinner who opens the door of his heart and lets Jesus come in. Conversion! Recovery! Renewal! Conversion puts us back on the path to fulfilling the purpose we were made for. God made us to be with Him. We were made good to be with Him who is good!St. Paul declares this in our Second Reading 2nd Thessalonians saying “We ... pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and powerfully bring to fulfillment every good purpose.” God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. He freely gives us everything we need. We have his love, his mercy, His grace ... we just have to accept it! Let’s delight in the truth that God loves us ... fully ... just the way we are. And let’s allow the presence of Jesus in our lives to bring us ever closer to Him in goodness.
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